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Everyone, including accordion teachers, seem to recommend these books, and I can see why. After re-starting accordion lessons after 55 years, I decided to order the first five books. Yes, they are simplistic, but they are thorough, and I learned how to try the 4-3-2 fingering method rather than the 3-2 I originally learned. These books were written when students were expected to put forth a bit of effort. The songs are simple and basic but every page or so introduces new concepts. I remembered some, but I like the fact that I can take my time and review the previous material. Though I'm an educator by profession, I think anyone can learn to play the accordion by him or herself with this series. There are other courses out there, but Palmer-Hughes is progressive and sequential and presents things in a logical manner. They do have the Prep series for those who have no musical experience, or who want to learn very slowly, but the regular program itself works great for most people. I recommend you order Book One of the Prep and Book One of the regular series. When you decide which is better, order the other 9 of the series you want.

I'm a fairly serious musician (trumpet and guitar), and my first reaction upon receiving this in the mail was that maybe it'd be a little too easy. I'm not an accordionist (yet), but as a person who has taken and given loads of lessons on trumpet, my opinion is that this book is solid gold. Right from the start, it gets you playing super easy songs that aren't too embarrassing to play within earshot of other humans, except for maybe the donkey song... With each page turn, you add something important to your technique, but barely notice the difficulty increasing.

Although I can play a masterful rendition of "Veggies on Parade" (this book's final song), I'm still very obviously an awful accordion player. If the rest of the books in this series are as well done, though, I have full faith that Palmer-Hughes will eventually turn me into a slightly below-average accordion player.

These books are fantastic! I got an accordion for Christmas, and have had 2 lessons with a great teacher. He recommended this series. It's the same one he used to learn 30 years ago, and he's an incredible player. I have background in piano, but these are perfect for someone with absolutely no experience. I went through book one in a couple of weeks, and book 2 has been very fun, but also very challenging. The third song introduces the player to alternating bass which was maddening for three or four days, until I got the hang of it.Just get these books and practice, and you will become an accordionist. Highly reccommend!

I bought this book because everyone on YouTube was suggesting that you should consider the PH books. I had seen them at a garage sale once, but they were old and faded and I was not interested in the accordion at that time. I wrote a more detailed report about the whole PH books because I bought a used collection of them that was missing the book 3. I sent for that and wrote a report on the whole PH books. Please go to the PH book 3 and learn a few things I hope that will help you. Thanks for reading my review.

All of the Palmer-Hughes Accordion Course books are helpful not only in learning to read and play music, but in learning to play an accordion as well. Accordions are like graduate school after learning to play an organ in college and a piano in high school. Playing an accordion is more than mere music.

This series of books teaches you pretty much one fundamental at a time, then adds them together -- but not too quickly. I'm an adult learner and already play piano & violin pretty well, but appreciate the thoughtful way of introducing a skill, getting practice, then combining it with another recently learned skill. A good building block approach. Personally I find some of the titles amusing "Vegetables on Parade" for example -- but they are often drawn from polkas or folk songs so have musical merit (although you will likely play more complicated versions later). It helps that I have a great teacher with a sense of humor too. I know some adult learners who resist the idea of polka as a genre but these books don't dwell on the form, but use it when needed to introduce alternating bass lines etc. I'm having a lot of fun with the series.

This book is great for learning, even without teacher. With every song it increases the difficulty a little bit, that you can have fun playing songs while improving your skill level. The only con: there is no CD for this book. Sometimes it is difficult playing songs you are not familiar with, that makes it necessary to search on YouTube. A simple CD just someone playing the songs from this book would have helped.